Newport County new boy Howkins targets automatic promotion

The 23-year-old former West Bromwich Albion centre-back is excited by the potential of the County squad following his summer arrival from the Hawthorns.

And he’s determined to help his new teammates improve on last season’s play-off final defeat at Wembley.

Speaking after scoring in Monday’s 8-1 friendly win at Weston-super-Mare, Howkins told iFollowExiles: “Personally, it was good to get 90 minutes which is the first for me in pre-season.

“The team has looked so strong since I joined here on day one so I’m not surprised how well we’ve played recently.

“Hopefully we can keep it going ready for Mansfield Town [on August 3].

“They were unlucky not to go up last year but the team is looking so strong so hopefully we can get automatic promotion this time around.”

Howkins has experience of playing in League Two on loan at Mansfield Town, Cambridge United and Port Vale over the past three seasons and he likes what he’s seen from County so far.

“The team has done so well since day one,” he said. “Everyone has fitted in together; everyone is getting along so well so hopefully we can keep gelling and take it into the season.

“I’ve settled in really well – the lads have taken to me really well. They’re a great bunch and I’m really looking forward to spending my next two years here.

“It definitely helped going to Spain,” he added. “It was nice and hot out there; the atmosphere and the vibes were good as well, which was important.”

The 6ft 5ins defender headed in against Weston and he’s hoping to add goals to the team from set-pieces.

“It’s always nice to get the first goal out of the way and I’m hopefully looking to get more throughout the season,” he said.

“We should score a lot from set-pieces. There’s myself, Jamma [Jamille Matt], Mickey [Demetriou] and a few others as well so hopefully we can be strong from set-pieces and that could be crucial to winning us a lot of games."